Four Seasons WDW

[GoofGoof]

The quality, amenities, and theme of the hotel or resort also make a big difference; It isn't just a question of price and convenience. Indeed, just having the Disney name on the property makes a far bigger difference than it reasonably should, or else the Hotel Plaza establishments would be the most popular hotels on Disney property (generally superior amenities and quality to Disney's own resorts, at a fraction of the price).

Four Seasons should be a true deluxe resort experience, far superior (possibly excepting the appeal of theme) to Disney's own resorts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Four seasons will draw a lot of guests who frequently stay at Four Seasons hotels already. Lots of business travelers stay in their hotels which are in most big cities.

I think this one will be more Disney centric than some of the Hotel Plaza places. I saw an article somewhere that they will have a character breakfast twice a week along with the buses to the parks and the lounge with a view of the MK and fireworks. I think it will feel a lot more like being on property. If Disney is moving away from deluxe rooms by converting more rooms to DVC there will be excess demand that Four Seasons should cover.

 

[Kuzcotopia]

I agree in theory, but I think it only works for a place like Four Seasons with 450 rooms. They could never do this with a moderate or value resort with 2,000 plus rooms. If one bus comes every hour on the hour and each bus holds say 100 people if you arrive 15 minutes before the bus arrives and are the 101st person in line you are waiting 75 mins now. With a smaller resort like 4 seasons it may never be a problem, but probably wouldn't be great for bigger Disney resorts.

Agreed. That would make dedicated buses on a set schedule every. . . (2000/450 = 4.44 per hour) 13 and a half minutes for the larger resorts. That's probably about what Disney does now at the values. . . probably better than that during peak times.

I've stayed at WL where we've probably just missed a bus. If it's 30 minutes until the next one fine, but give em the freedom to know that ahead of time? That's golden for me.

Nothing, nothing hurts worse for me than staring at every bus that comes by, and leave empty because it's not your bus and no one else is waiting.

 

[GoofGoof]

Agreed. That would make dedicated buses on a set schedule every. . . (2000/450 = 4.44 per hour) 13 and a half minutes for the larger resorts. That's probably about what Disney does now at the values. . . probably better than that during peak times.

I've stayed at WL where we've probably just missed a bus. If it's 30 minutes until the next one fine, but give em the freedom to know that ahead of time? That's golden for me.

Nothing, nothing hurts worse for me than staring at every bus that comes by, and leave empty because it's not your bus and no one else is waiting.

There is a psychological element to the wait. It always seems like the bus you want comes last. Happens to me all the time with off airport parking shuttles. One thing that I think would help a great deal would be if they fully rolled out the signs with wait times for the bus and those times were accurate. If you knew it was going to be 25 mins for the bus to MK then it wouldn't be as disappointing to see a bus pull in 5 minutes later going to AK.

One down side to the bus coming at a fixed time is it will be yet another thing that's "scheduled" in your day. I could see people sprinting down Main Street at 4:55PM hoping to get to the bus stop in time to catch the 5PM bus back to Four Seasons. I guess with ADRs and FP+ what's one more thing that's scheduled for you.

 

[GoofGoof]

.... and I thought I was the only one that thought WDW SHOULD convert a slew of Deluxe Rooms to DVC - you mean they HAVE? Now, that's news to me.... if you have any info on actual CONVERSIONS to DVC, or plans for same? I would actually love to hear about it.

I may get hate mail... but just from personal observation? The Deluxe prices keep going up, and at the same time, the DISCOUNTS continue - or even go UP. Last few trips to the WL? The Lodge proper has been looking a wee bit empty . At places like WL and GF, or good Restaurant friends (who WILL remain unnamed) have been complaining a bit about low Hotel Population....

So I've wondered - with those Deluxe's that utilize and "independent building" structure (like the GF & Poly)... has WDW considered actual CONVERSION of lower demand Deluxe Hotel Space to Higher demand DVC space?

Not a big reader of the Spirited threads? WDW1974s latest thread is about just this:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-spirited-8th-wonder-wdws-future-you.887031/#post-6221637

Long and short if you aren't interested in reading 70 some pages is the next DVC resort is rumored to be a conversion of cash rooms at WL to DVC. From the sounds of the rumor it will likely be a large number of rooms (maybe up to half). Currently the Polynesian DVC project which should be done in the next 12 months will take 3 long houses and convert them to DVC. It's roughly 40% of the rooms at Poly converted. Speculation is the other deluxe resorts could follow after with the exception of CR and YC due to their extensive convention business.

I wouldn't suggest posting any sort of optimism or support for this plan over in that thread. The natives are restless and for the most part not real big fans of the plan.

 

[GoofGoof]

I could see it happening. Yet, the Lodge proper is more of a "continuous building" design as opposed to an "autonomous building" design (like the GF). Just me - I would have guessed WDW would start conversions with "autonomous building" designs.... clear demarcation of property, fewer shared resources.

.... on the other hand? They could just do the ENTIRE HOTEL .

I'm curious to see how they do the split too if it really happens. At AKL they did it by floor. They made part or the top 2 floors DVC. I could see them doing it that way to minimize the guest impact from construction. Supposedly they are also planning a total redo of Artist Point along with an expansion of the pool deck and adding at least 1 additional lounge that may be DVC exclusive similar to Top of the World at BLT.